Successful students are not only knowledgeable but also emotionally and physically healthy, motivated, civically engaged, prepared for work and economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond their own borders. To help students meet this standard, a school must use a coordinated, evidence-based approach that supports learning, teaching and student growth—in short, the school must create a healthy school community.

This action tool, and accompanying online scoring and analysis tool, offers a practical strategy for structuring your school environment to support the development of students who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make healthy choices. Updated to reflect current research, new standards, and best practices, the second edition of the action tool guides you through the four steps of the Healthy School Report Card–Canadian Edition process with rationale, tips from successful participants, and easy-to-use tools.

Tools for organizing can help you develop a school-level process for working with your community. You can then use the scoring tools to assess your school's current health programming and create an evidence-based environment that supports learning and teaching. With the tools for reporting, you can use the Healthy School Report Card–Canadian Edition to meet required guidelines and identify and prioritize areas for improvement. The data you collect can assist your ongoing efforts to garner the support of policymakers, family members, and the community.

DAVID K. LOHRMANN is a professor of applied health science at Indiana University, Bloomington. His expertise includes school health programs, prevention education, program evaluation, and education reform. He also serves as a consultant for the Michiana Coordinated School Health Program Leadership Institute, which is sponsored by the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Indiana State Department of Health, and the Michigan Department of Education.

SANDRA VAMOS is a senior advisor on health education and health literacy for the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Vamos joins the centre from the faculty of education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she was an associate professor of health education.

PAUL YEUNG recently completed his doctoral degree in educational psychology in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. His expertise includes health literacy, school health education and promotion, immigration and acculturation, and multilingualism and multiculturalism.